Payment Gateway for High Risk Business

Every business is built around the point of sale. Some businesses approach it in a different way than others. There are salespeople who will use pressure tactics to make a sale as quickly as possible. There are convenience stores that focus on impulse buys. There are business models that are more about the slow burn, like a blogger who posts free content for years in order to attract the attention of publishers, before finally introducing a book that they’re selling. A good real estate agent might show you a dozen homes before asking if you’re ready to buy.

But sooner or later, you have to make the sale. If money isn’t exchanged for goods or services, then you’re running a non-profit or a charity. And that’s great, there’s nothing wrong with that. But if you’re an entrepreneur, if you’re a businessperson, then the sale is the backbone of what you do for a living. You make the sale and you keep the lights on, or you don’t, and you don’t. So it’s no wonder that savvy business owners tend to take their time in selecting a payment gateway provider.

The point of sale is the backbone of your business, and you wouldn’t trust a chiropractor just because they’re the first name in the phone book. The same goes for finding a reliable payment gateway provider.

Payment Gateway for High-Risk Business: What Makes You High-Risk?

The short answer is that it comes down to chargebacks. Some industries, like adult entertainment, come with a certain stigma, but ultimately it has to do with the high rate of chargebacks people within these industries tend to suffer. Different merchant account and payment gateway providers may have different criteria for what qualifies as high-risk, but there are certain industries that are almost universally regarded as high-risk.

Sometimes if you’re regarded as a high-risk business, you could incur chargebacks. There are ways to keep your chargeback rate down that are worth pursuing even if you’re content with high-risk payment gateway providers. A high chargeback rate is no fun for any business.

But if you practice these tactics they will most certainly help your chargebacks…

The Upsides Of High-Risk Selling

One of the first major upsides to being categorized as a high-risk seller is the fact that you actually have fewer payment gateway providers to choose from. Think about it like this: If you’re shopping for a car, you don’t go looking at every single car in the entire world. You set a budget, you probably look for cars that are in your local area, and you focus on cars that fit your locale and lifestyle. There’s not much point driving a compact car if your home is up a rocky hill that demands four-wheel drive. Likewise, you don’t exactly need an SUV if you live alone in the city. You look for what suits your needs, is in your budget, and is accessible.

This might leave you with anywhere from ten to a few dozen cars to choose from. And maybe you cut that in half by deciding you only want a new car. And cut that number in half again because you’d really like to drive a red car, and again when you prioritize good gas mileage. The more focused your search, the easier it’s going to be to pick the best car. Eventually, you might be down to two autos and you could safely make the choice with a coin toss.

So having your options limited by your status as a high-risk seller can be for the best, because it cuts out a lot of the payment gateway providers who really aren’t suited to your needs.

The same goes for a lot of businesses classified as high-risk merchants, including firearm and collection agency, eCigs, alcohol and so on. Even if you could get any old provider to sign you up, chances are that you would find out soon enough that they’re a bad fit.

A company that mostly works with, say, food trucks and shoe stores are not going to know what to do when you tell them that you just got hit with a bunch of chargebacks. This isn’t the kind of thing that they’re used to, and they’re not going to know how to handle it as well as a company that specializes in people who work in your field.

In other words, it’s not so much that you don’t have any options when you are categorized as high-risk, rather, your choice just becomes a little easier. You don’t have to sift through the hundreds of providers who have no idea how to meet your needs. And now that your selection has been narrowed down, you can consider using Maverick since they will consult you and help your business as it grows. They do this by keeping you up to date on compliance/regulations not mention the use of fraud filters, analytics & a host of other tools found on their custom dashboard bizlitix.

Do They Cover Your Field?

Not every high-risk payment gateway provider covers every high-risk industry. Some may specialize in money based businesses like check cashing and collection agencies, while others might want nothing to do with that industry. Others may cover just about every high-risk industry, but not alcohol. Most payment gateway providers will list somewhere on their website which fields they work in and which fields they specialize in. Finding just the providers who work in your field will help you to narrow the selection down further.

How’s Their Customer Service?

24/7 service is pretty important when it comes to anything relating to your point of sale. A financial issue might only take seconds to correct, but it could become more expensive every minute it goes unchecked. With round the clock service like Maverick you can be fairly certain that if you have an issue that needs to be resolved at one in the morning, that someone will be able to pick up the phone, forward you to the relevant department, and get your problems sorted.

Consider Compatibility

There are a lot of questions of compatibility that will come up when signing with a new payment gateway provider.

Maverick is here to help you with your questions though and will take the time to learn and assist you in the best way possible for your industry type.

Whatever choice you make, don’t think of your high-risk status as a negative. People have to travel so someone has to sell the tickets, even if that means taking on a higher risk than other businesses. There are a lot of businesses out there geared specifically to your needs as a high-risk merchant but like mentioned Maverick will help you with on-going compliance, regulation, PCI-compliance fraud analysis and a host of other services that will ultimately help your business.

About Us

Maverick BankCard is a leading electronic payment processor based in Los Angeles. As a full-service payment provider, Maverick handles all processes in-house including underwriting, risk management, customer service, and more, while providing industry-leading technology.